The Rulers

Rulers are an ancient group of seven beings who served the Seven Great Gods of Remnant. They are humans who have been given otherworldly powers by the Gods greatly surpassing what normal mortals have been capable of. There are no current Rulers at the moment as most of the Gods have left Remnant. The last publicly known Ruler was the Woman on the Statue at the front of Beacon Academy.

As of right now, Ozma and Pyrrha are the only two rulers on the face of Remnant.

History
Knowledge of Rulers came from Ozma, who carried stories of the past with him and disseminated them as fairy tales across Beacon. However, to Ozma, Rulers were more than tales. Salem was known to fear Rulers greatly and took several precautions in case one was ever created. However, there were no sightings of Rulers for the next several thousand years.

Pyrrha tells the story she heard from Israfil about the past. In the distant past, there were Seven Rulers, each representing the Seven Gods. The Ruler of Fire ruled the West of Remnant, maintaining his iron fist over the nations of that region. The Ruler of Water dominated the North with her frigid heart hardening the people that lived there. The Ruler of Earth ruled over the South and unified the discordant nations under one banner. The Ruler of Wind ruled over the East and brought prosperity to his people. The Ruler of Life traveled, healing all those who suffered from ailments.

Yet amongst the Seven, there were two that were exalted above the others. The Ruler of Light was known to be a great hero, helping all those who were suffering and bringing peace to the nations around the world. And finally, the Ruler of Darkness. While she was infamous for her power to control the Grimm, the Ruler of Darkness used her powers to defend the innocent and those she loved. She was beloved by her God and she loved him back.

During the Great War, there was a Ruler rumored to have awoken but these rumors were never substantiated and thus was regarded as an old war myth.

Description
Rulers are regarded by Ozpin to be the most terrifying and most powerful weapons employed by the Gods. They are essentially their champions or human representatives. While Remnant is a host to many faiths, Rulers are unique to the Seven Gods of Old and thus, only seven Rulers can exist at any given time. Each Ruler corresponds to a specific God, though it is unknown if that Ruler is tied to specific element.

Magic
Like the Maidens, Rulers are gifted with extremely powerful magic to use as they please, allowing them to control Remnant's natural forces and bend them to their wills, similar to the Maidens. It is unknown whether or not Rulers are stronger than Maidens in this regard, however, it is implied that they are.

It is unknown how a Semblance would affect a Ruler's magic as there are no plausible records of a Ruler's existence in modern day Remnant.

Awakening Process
Rulers are always selected by the Seven Gods of Old, who then implant something known as a Motif within the chosen's soul, granting them great magical power. Each Motif differs from God to God, however, a Motif generically grants immense power. Other abilities of Motifs are unknown but Ozpin has stated that a Motif molds with a person's soul and projects different abilities. Unlike Maiden power, Motifs cannot be stolen due to being directly connected to a deity, thus the Deity in question will always protect the Ruler's power.

Due to the lack of a Ruler's presence in modern day Remnant, it is unknown if a Ruler's motif has any influence on the a chosen's semblance.

Trivia

 * The concept of Rulers is based off Herrschers from Honkai Impact 3rd and Archons from Genshin Impact.
 * Likewise, their power source, Motif, is based on the concept of Herrscher Cores and Gnosis.
 * The source of the Ruler's power, Motif, is a reference to the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature or Thompson's Motif Index, which is a system that folklorists use for folktale type analysis.